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| Dalhousie's version of the swimsuit calendar |
It鈥檚 not your typical swimsuit calendar. In fact, the suits are like the ones you鈥檇 see in silent films from the 1920s.
The 2008 黑料吃瓜网Swim Team calendar is now on sale. Given life in 2006 after a perceived slight when the 黑料吃瓜网Student Union failed to publish the swim team鈥檚 competition schedule in their student agenda, the calendar has grown into an annual fundraising initiative. It鈥檚 brought the 40-member team together as a group and some much deserved attention to one of the university鈥檚 most successful varsity programs.
The calendar was the brainchild of student-athletes Magda Gawlik and Colleen Smith, who wanted to raise money to support the team鈥檚 training initiatives. Everyone on the team, as well as Head Coach David Fry and Associate Director of Athletics Karen Moore, gave their enthusiastic approval.
鈥淚t was pretty easy to get everyone on board. Coach Fry thought it was a great idea, and Karen Moore was totally behind it once we assured her of the kind of calendar we were planning.鈥� says Ms. Gawlik.
The first calendar was produced in the fall of 2006, and it was a learning process for everyone involved. That experience lead to the 2008 edition being planned with a new approach. A common theme was agreed on and a tight production schedule was worked out. Lauren Dorrington, who took the lead in organizing this year鈥檚 project explains, 鈥淢agda and I were talking about how we could improve the calendar this year and we figured that since it was an Olympic year that would be a good fit. We thought that by having an Olympic theme, we would not only be advertising our sport but sports culture overall.鈥�
For each month of the calendar, two or three swimmers are pictured demonstrating an Olympic sport, with the schedule for that sport at the 2008 Beijing Games listed on the side. Swimming action shots of the current team are also placed throughout each month.聽 鈥�(Dalplex graphic designer) Christine Darrah did the design work again this year and it鈥檚 fantastic,鈥� says Ms. Dorrington. 鈥淲ithout her expertise on what works and what doesn鈥檛 from a visual point of view, the calendar wouldn鈥檛 be as great as it is.鈥澛�
The calendar sells for $15. It鈥檚 available from team members or at the Dalplex Adidas Shop.
The swim team is in action again at the Dalplex pool on January 26 when it will host Mount Allison University and the University of New Brunswick.